Cores of automobile interior materials, sound absorbers of air conditioners, glass mat, constructional sound insulators, and the like are produced from molding compounds mainly comprising fiber, a phenolic resin, and an amine curing agent to secure sufficient strength (see, for example, JP-A-57-55962 and JP-A-7-1666). However, phenolic resins react or decompose to produce formaldehyde, and the amine curing agent has the problem of smell.
Powdered molding compounds comprising a diallyl phthalate prepolymer and/or a crystalline unsaturated polyester resin, fiber, and a curing agent are known (see JP-A-5-169475). The diallyl phthalate prepolymer, however, has a low iodine value and fails to achieve a high crosslinking density, and generally used curing agent is used, so that the resulting molded article has insufficient strength.